Fractions
by Miss Regina Star
Summary: Fractions /ˈfrækʃən/ noun: 1. Mathematics: a number usually expressed in the form a/b. 2. Chemistry: a component able to be seperated by fractionation. 3. Life: a part as distinct from the whole of anything; portion or section. The small shards of a new life slowly falling together, piece by piece. Series of chronolgical one-shots. Seb/Jamie.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey.**

**New story. Or... a story. I would love it if some of those who have read my Malec also like Jeb. I ship it, even if FanFiction doesn't believe Seb is a character... Grr.  
**

**Anyway, this is a series of casual one-shots, all linked by chronological order. This could be the end, if you like, but if you continue, you may find it is only the beginning. Each chapter is about a new aspect of life after Surrender between Jamie and Seb. I hope someone reads this.  
**

**Random Fact No. 398394: The tongue is the fastest healing part of the body.**

* * *

"I've been thinking," said Jamie, and Seb smirked. Jamie quickly slapped him before he had the chance to groan. "I can do that!"

"You thinking… God save us all."

Jamie decided to ignore him. "I've been thinking… that you are definitely my boyfriend, aren't you? I mean, probably." Jamie's voice was quickening, and Seb turned to look at him. "I didn't used to like you, even when you stopped picking on me, but then… then I figured that I had never loved another boy the way I love you and… I love you."

Seb's expression froze in place, the relaxed smile he wore around Jamie freezing up quite suddenly. Said boy nudged his arm.

"I don't… I-I didn't…"

Jamie's entire face seemed to fall as Seb sputtered words which all seemed to add up to nothing. It didn't matter, he supposed, if Seb was afraid of him. Just because he had held him when he needed someone and heavily implied that he had strong feelings for the blonde Crawford did not mean that he should have just expected Seb's affection for him to be a given. Pushing the other boy's arm off his waist, Jamie started to stand up.

"I guess I went in a little too fast, or too suddenly, or too much or…" Jamie shook his head. He couldn't even babble. He was usually so good at babbling. Seb pulled him back onto the couch, causing Jamie to fall back onto his chest, where he had been resting before he had ruined everything.

"I didn't say anything yet, Jamie. Why are you so worried?" Seb's voice seemed half amused, half terrified. Jamie wondered if he even realised that what he had just said made no sense whatsoever.

"You didn't say anything. I just made one of those sudden, movie like love confessions, and you didn't say anything. Or rather you did, but you were stammering out bad words like 'don't' and 'didn't', so of course I think it's going to be heartbreaking. And if my heart is breaking, I am obviously going to be uncomfortable around you because I say stupid things to ruin nice moments with exclamations of my love, which you do not reciprocate, which makes things dreadfully awkward, and you were doing such a good job at not being awkward, and-"

Jamie was abruptly and adequately cut off by the feel of a familiar pair of lips.

Seb's lips were interesting, not that Jamie had a terribly broad experience as far as boys' lips went. Yes, there had been Mark Skinner, but his kisses had always felt like something which was a terrible secret. It had been strange that kissing Mark had initially made him feel giddy, but never quite loved. During the later days, when Mark had been more rushed, as though he simply needed to kiss Jamie out of habit, their kisses had always made Jamie feel worse. He had felt Mark pulling away, and had always come back to him, even so.

He remembered the first kiss he had shared with Seb, when the boy had been in tears over killing a woman. It had been quick, and filled with a need and bursting desire. It had surprised Jamie, and afterwards he had pushed the boy away again, but in that one violent kiss, Jamie had felt what Seb had felt for a long time; fear, frustration, love, jealousy.

It had further surprised him that now, after going out with Seb for a long time, the boy was unnaturally gentle. When their lips met, Seb's seemed to trace his and cradle him like he was made of glass. He was so much taller and stronger than Jamie that the other boy was able to sit entirely in his lap as he held him as though he could break at any given time. His hand would occasionally clasp around the stump where Jamie's left hand had once been, and his thumb would brush over it so gently…

Seb broke away, looking at him the way he sometimes did. He looked a little sad, and Jamie found himself wondering if it was his fault.

"You know no one has ever really said that to me?" said Seb quietly. Jamie couldn't help but glance up from his own embarrassment. "Once, when I was seven, a little girl saw me crying, and she asked what was wrong. I told her that my newest parents were sending me away. She didn't understand, she couldn't have, but then she told me that she loved me. I knew she didn't, nobody could, but that was the only time a sober person ever said it to me. There have been petty girls talking about me being… pretty or whatever, but they only ever liked me as an object. I never figured it would happen." Seb paused, flushing red, his tone softening, as though he was unsure if he should even speak at all. "I never figured it _could_."

"You shouldn't feel obliged to say it back just because-"

Seb held up a hand. "I never thought you would say it, actually. I never thought you would forgive me enough to love me. I loved you from the start, Jamie. Always."

Now it was Jamie's turn to be surprised. "Well that's new."

Seb smiled. "Actually, it's about two years old."

Jamie's mouth dropped more than a fraction, words seeming to fall away.

Seb, using his constant and irrational gentleness, stood up from the couch and brought back one of his many green sketch books, a date scrawled across the front indicating it was used when Seb was fourteen. He flicked it to one of the middle pages, going past random sketches of broken beer bottles and a trashed backyard, showing a picture of a younger Jamie. Seb began to blush when Jamie took the book from his hands and looked at the picture, eyes wide.

"It's not very good, I was younger, and…" Seb ducked his head. Jamie looked at him incredulously. True, Sebastian had since improved, his drawings becoming finer and more detailed, but even this was beautiful. "It was just from memory, so the details are a little off. I meant for it to be more exact, but…"

"Why did you draw it? Just a fit of passion while thinking of me, or what?" Seb looked at him, like he was concentrating.

"There is a reason, for every drawing. Do you want to hear this one?"

Jamie nodded vigorously, and Seb commenced his tale.

* * *

"You're late."

Sebastian glanced at his foster parents. The father was the same old story; alcoholic who ignores him, but the mother was new. She felt the need to know where he was 24/7. The mystifying part was that she did not even seem to like him. She just needed to keep track of him.

"No… I'm really not." He wasn't lying. He had sports training that afternoon, and it was compulsory to attend. He had told her. "It ends at five. You didn't offer me a ride, so I walked. It's five thirty; I made pretty good time."

"I thought you had run away. Or you were lost. Do you know what would happen if we lost you?"

Sebastian honestly did not know the answer to that question. Then again, everyone seemed to take endless pleasure in reminding him how dumb he was, so not knowing the answers was nothing new. He let the silence speak on his behalf.

"We might have been sued. We might have been rendered unable to foster another child, and our income would have dropped like that." To emphasise this point, she clicked her fingers.

He could remember when he was younger, how he had not minded being in foster homes quite so much. It did not matter that he would always have burn marks from the cigarettes past 'fathers' had put out in his flesh, or the way they had been a little rough with him. He was not theirs, and it was terribly kind of them to look after him.

When he had grown up a bit, to about ten years old, he had realised that these people were _paid _to look after him. Then he had started to tell them that they were being unfair, and that he should not have to put up with them anymore. Cue more beatings.

Now he just didn't care. He just played dead for most of the day, and everything usually worked out. It was good that he was bigger and stronger now. Though he hardly ever hit back, people tended not risk it.

"Go on, Sebastian. Go to the room that we provide you, sleep under the roof that we lend." Sebastian almost sighed with relief.

It had been a miserable day, but he felt almost… excited. He had met another boy his age who had the same powers he did. He could feel it, like the pulsing rhythm of a drum in his veins. This boy was even stronger than him, though. He was so frightened that he alone had been cursed, but this boy was like him.

Everything about him was beautiful. There was almost an overwhelming sense of allure granted to this boy for no other reason but him being a freak too, but there was more. Dreadfully more. He wanted to touch him, to see if the magic radiated from his skin… but maybe he also just wanted to hold him. He was small, and cute, and almost girl like, but like a boy enough for him to-

No.

No, he didn't like boys. That was why he had snapped at this boy. That was why he would never tell him that he could feel it too, the amazing recognition that they were the same. He had been alone long enough. He was used to it. He did not deserve to allow his stupid hands to touch this… this beautiful boy named Jamie.

What did he have, anyway, that could even make him worthy of this boy? His powers… they were beyond incredible. He could feel them, so vibrantly. If he were a girl, Sebastian would have… he would have…

He wouldn't have loved him. Or her. Because the way he felt for Jamie was special. He wanted to touch the magic boy, feel his skin simply to see if it flowed with electricity. And for that, he hated him just a little bit. That was why he had – and always would – push him away.

He was scared of what he was, and that this seemingly weak boy was like him.

He was scared to like a boy. He was a man, and men liked girls.

And he was just a little afraid to like someone, really like someone, and then be taken away again. And never see Jamie again.

* * *

"That doesn't explain why you drew it…"

Seb shook his head, cheeks red as though he had shared something very private. "When I saw you, I saw all of my fears in one person. That's why I was so bad, not because I didn't like you." Seb brushed his hand along the picture of Jamie, finding a spot which was a little smudged from being poorly erased. Seb laughed. "I drew a heart there." Taking a closer look, there was a clear indentation of a heart. "When I was younger, I thought this was the most beautiful thing I would ever draw. I was so happy with how it came out that I forgot that I wasn't meant to like you." Another laugh. "I guess I've forgotten for good now."

"Why?" Jamie wasn't used to being liked. He had had a few friends in the past, but with very few in the present, a boy in love with him was more than a little shocking. And for two whole years…

"Usually I was just moved to wherever there was a place. I went from city to city, back and forth, almost seasonally. I used to settle a bit better when I was younger, though. The people who take the little kids tend to be people who genuinely want to raise a child, to really turn someone's life around." Seb gave a nervous smile. "They were nice, but eventually they would always get tired of looking after a good for nothing dumb kid who wasn't even theirs. They always expected some kind of kid who would be their ideal child. I wasn't that. I used to tell them that it was okay, if they wanted to give me away. They always felt really guilty about it, so I always told them it was alright… I'm sorry, I must sound really pathetic. This is why I don't like talking about this…"

"I don't mind!" Jamie blurted out quickly. Seb rolled his eyes, but continued.

"When I got a bit older, they asked if I had a preference to stay in the area, and they would always try their 'best' to find me a home somewhere nearby." Seb frowned. "It hardly ever worked though, and usually not well enough for me to go to the same school. I drew the picture because I thought that I would lose you in just a few months, and I would have nothing to remember you by. No evidence that there was another person in the whole world who felt like this. They came back, telling me that they had a few people in the area who could take me, but they were rough. I told them that I didn't mind, just as long as I could stay…"

"Oh no." Jamie's voice was flat, his eyes horrified. Seb's expression twisted.

"For all the horrible, awful things I said and did to you, I could not have ever wanted to be away from you. I worried about you, when you took sick days. I used to think I had taken it _beyond _too far, and I would be a mess all day. I thought that one of the other boys might have hurt you… that I might have really badly upset you… I used to think how I couldn't live with myself if something ever happened to you, but continued hurting you when nothing came. The idea of moving away… it was worse than any of the families I had to live with."

Jamie had noticed a lot of things about Seb, but only now did they make sense.

The way he had looked at him during high school after he had been absent for a while. It had been strange, almost like relief. And when he had broken his arm when he was fifteen, Seb had been jumpy around him, seeming to hover several metres away. When Tim had tripped him up, Seb had managed to move in front of Jamie so that he fell on him, cushioning his fall. Jamie had always found it strange how gently Seb had stood up, not pushing him roughly at all, before pouncing on Tim, telling him that if he _ever _did something like that again, he would only ever be able to _wish _he were dead.

"So you stayed in horrible places with the soul intent of being horrible to me?" asked Jamie, causing Seb to flinch.

"I know it was selfish…" Jamie almost laughed. Yes, it had been selfish in many ways… but Jamie couldn't deny that Seb had suffered, just to see him. Seb never talked about the 'families' he had stayed with just so he could keep going to his school, but after the first few had sent him on his way, the green eyed boy had been scraping along rock bottom. There had always been rumours about Seb. Once he had heard that he was sleeping in a park because his foster parents had gone on vacation without telling him and had locked him out. Jamie hadn't believed them until he had seen the boy at school, with big blue bags under his eyes. He had heard Mark ask him why he hadn't just broken back into the house, to which Seb had mumbled back 'I wouldn't risk it'.

"And incredibly stupid," supplied Jamie. "Don't forget stupid."

Seeing the hurt expression on Seb's face, he almost regretted his words. People always just assumed that Seb was very unintelligent, but Jamie found that he really wasn't. He was incredibly observant, and seemed to notice everything around him as it changed and flourished. He could have been very smart, but Jamie supposed no one had ever really cared enough to tell him.

When Seb didn't reply, Jamie decided he had most definitely said the wrong thing.

"I don't mean you're stupid, I just mean that your actions, perspectives, morals-"

Seb smiled sadly. "No, I am stupid. For all those reasons, and so many others."

"No, you're not-"

"I let you hate me. It was the last thing I wanted, but I inflicted it upon myself deliberately… but it doesn't even matter if it hurt me, because it hurt you more. I was awful. I was stupid for letting myself become like… like this." Seb was cringing. Jamie did not like to remind Seb of their past, especially when he was trying so hard, but there was always something inside him which would bring it all back.

"Like what-"

"I let myself become so… ugly. I thought, when I was little, that I had to become strong. More than that, I had to throw anyone off ever being mean or – or saying bad things. For some reason I thought I had to be tough. It never occurred to me that I didn't, because I thought that when people hit you, you hit back. When they say bad things, you say worse things back… I became good at it, and eventually I didn't get hurt so often. I never even stopped to think that what I had become was so…" Apparently Seb could not locate the appropriate words for what he had become.

Jamie considered this. He thought about how he had thought of Seb as being a very temporary person in his life. He had hated him for a long time. He had assumed that it would be nice to have a cuddly teenage romance for a while, before letting the tall green eyed boy go. He hadn't thought it would become like this.

Jamie sighed. This was the part where Mae was supposed to redirect the conversation. Where Nick would abruptly tell them to shut up about their stupid feelings. Where Alan would laugh at something in his own mind and smile brightly, the liar, and start a new conversation with Nick or Cynthia until the old one faded away.

They were all special in a way Jamie wasn't; they were less awkward. But there was something Jamie could say that they couldn't, and that was enough.

"Sebastian?"

Seb turned his head, his face still flushed. "Yeah?"

"I love you."

And Seb's smile at that moment seemed to wash away the anguish for a little while.

* * *

**I hope you liked it... so far. Hopefully there will be more chapters. Just hit the review button, and I guarantee it will speed up the process!**


	2. Kids

**Hey!**

**Long time no see... to anyone who reads this. It isn't the biggest fandom, and nowhere near the right amount of people ship Jeb, but it deserves to be recognised. I mean... it's canon! And thus I will continue this succession of one-shots (hopefully there will be ten) in the name of justice.**

**If you have any questions about the fic, just ask. I don't bite. Thank you to SecretlyANinja98. You rock. You know, even if you aren't reading this now...**

**Fact No. 3934348: Giraffes and rats can survive longer without water than camels.**

* * *

Jamie looked at Lydie's big eyes and blond curls, his own eyes wide with fear. Like Mae, he had not the faintest idea what to do with a child.

His parents used to take him to dinners and little parties, and when he was around ten, he would sit there and watch the younger children. He was better than Mae. Just a little. When he hit thirteen and everyone _knew, _he had had to sit in the same little chair next to the children, and listen to them call him names and laugh and ask which boys he liked, only to snigger at him.

He wasn't good with kids.

But when Sin and Alan and Mae and Nick all wanted to go out, what was he meant to say but 'Yeah, we can look after the kids'? Toby had fallen asleep almost immediately, but Lydie… Lydie was proving a little more difficult.

"So you two are in love? I thought he hated you." Lydie, who was sitting at Seb's feet, turned to face Jamie. "Don't you hate him?"

Seb's face was flushed, but not angry. He looked more nervous than anything. Jamie shook his head, giving Lydie a purposeful look. "No, Lydie. I don't hate Seb."

Lydie sat still for a moment, as though thinking. "Well, I suppose Nick's doubly taken, and you can't have Alan 'cause he's Sin's. I guess Seb will do… for now."

The child turned thoughtful again, and Jamie tried his best to tell Seb he was sorry with his eyes. He didn't want him to feel like this. After a moment, she looked up from the television. "What about one of them?"

She pointed to the television set to reveal two boys kissing each other. Jamie closed his eyes. This wasn't going how it was meant to.

He and Seb were living in the large house Alan and Mae had bought. Technically, anyone could drop in and take a room, but being the only ones who went to school aside from Sin – who crashed at her dad's – it was usually just Jamie and Seb. The others usually camped out with the Goblin Market while the two boys worried about exams. They were going to be analysed to see if they could resume their former classes since the term's end. They had missed a lot of school that year.

Jamie really wished that he had told Sin to drop the kids off at her dad's. He really did.

"They can sing, too," she said, her voice excited. "They might win Regionals and-"

"They're taken, Lydie. They have each other," Jamie snapped, his voice gaining an edge that was barely there, but oddly apparent in his usually gentle, carefree tone. At this, Seb looked up. Jamie could have kicked himself; Seb noticed every change of tone, every round-about word. Without another word, the taller boy leaned down and scooped Lydie up in his arms.

"Couldn't you have just magicked me up?" she asked.

"I save my magic for special things. I can pick up a little kid with my own two hands." Seb attempted a smile, and Lydie returned it.

Jamie internally groaned. He didn't want Seb to have to deal with this because of him. He saw the way he would cringe away from Nick. Despite his height and defined muscles, he would shrink away from them. He had once told Jamie it was because he knew that they knew he wasn't good enough to love Jamie, and that he knew they were right. Jamie wished he could see that he made him happy.

"Do you like being a magician?" she asked, curiously. Jamie looked up, before realising that she was addressing Seb.

Seb looked down, his eyes never quite meeting hers. "We're just humans with a little power, Lydie. There isn't that much to love or hate."

She rolled her eyes. "Maybe for _you_. But for me and Jamie it's different."

"Lydie-"

Seb cut Jamie off with a smile and a shake of his head. "You're right, Lydie. It is different for you. You know what you are, and the people around you love you for what you are. Even more for the fact that you're a magician, because if you took that away, it would be taking away a part of you. You and Jamie can do beautiful things. You two are very special."

Seb never looked up at either of them, his face red and worried, but Jamie felt his breath catch and saw Lydie's eyes widen.

"You shouldn't say that. You have magic too. You're special too."

Seb shrugged. "Magic isn't a part of me like it is for you and Jamie. What I do isn't beautiful. Mostly it's just weak. But you…" Seb braved a look up and smiled gently, patting Lydie's loose locks away from her face. "You're very special and very strong. I wish I could be like you, Lydie."

At this, Lydie looked down. "But you're old."

"But you're strong, Lydie. Age has nothing to do with it."

With the girl sitting on Seb's lap, Jamie couldn't do or say all the things he wanted to. He wanted to reach over and kiss Seb, if for no other reason than to get him to shut up. He shouldn't have to prove himself to anyone, let alone a child. Jamie loved him, and everyone else should too.

Lydie was silent for a long time, until she kneeled up on Seb's lap and cocked her pretty head to the side. "If no one was there to tell you… if you don't have much powers… how did you know you were a magician?"

"You don't have to answer that, Sebastian." Jamie could hear the alarm in his voice, and Seb looked at him with a mixture of concern and an ancient sadness.

They both knew when Seb had first realised he was magic.

* * *

Sebastian looked at the man, his eyes watering. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I really didn't. I'm sorry-"

The man hit him across the face, and Sebastian clutched his stinging cheek, wishing he could turn back time. Wishing he hadn't done what he had. He wasn't meant to. He knew he wasn't meant to.

"That girl," yelled the man, "is my daughter. She's mine. You are just a fucking piece of filth no one else wanted. You think you can come into my home and rough up my daughter? You think you have any right to breathe on her, let alone play? You're an idiot! Such a Goddamn idiot. Bloody waste of space."

The man clocked the side of his head again, this time thumping it with a fist. It hurt. It throbbed and it hurt and Sebastian wanted it to go away so bad. Somewhere in the distance he could hear the farmer's daughter sniffling a little as her mother bandaged up her knee.

"I'm sorry," Sebastian gasped. Were his new fathers meant to do this? None of the others had hit him yet. He remembered being with some of the older boys who had bruises and stories. Stories of being beaten and hurt. Now that he was eight, was he like the older boys? He didn't want to be. He remembered one of them coming back to the home badly hurt and limping, just crying. Sebastian had seen him and asked him what was wrong with him. The boy wouldn't answer – he wouldn't say anything but that the man was bad. Very bad. Sebastian had taken him to his room at the boarding house where they had given him a temporary bed before he would be redistributed. He had hugged the boy and told him that things would be alright. He never got to see him again. When he had woken up, the boy had gone. He asked one of the nurses if they had seen him, but they hadn't. No one had seen him but Sebastian.

He wondered where he had gone.

If he could join him?

They could look after each other, then. Neither of them would have to be sad.

"Y'know, yer last family gave us a report on you. They said you was clever enough. That you knew what's what and was harmless, they did. They didn't mention that you were wrong in the head. That you were some idiot who would hurt our daughter. They said you was good, but I suppose they just wanted you gone." The man's hand struck Sebastian again, and this time he was on the ground, the world more upside-down than it should have been. He felt the man's boot dig into his rib as he kicked him. He tried to stay silent, to wait until the man was done. He apologised when he cried out. He thought that maybe if he pretended to be dead, the man would stop.

At that moment, he wished that he _could _be dead. If he would just… if he would just stop…

He was sorry.

The farmer's daughter was a nice girl, and she was about the same age as he was. She could ride ponies – just the small ones – and Sebastian would watch her to make sure she was okay. When she had been riding that day, it had been warm. She asked him to go inside to get her an ice cream. She said she would be fine.

Sebastian wasn't sure if it was deliberate or not, but the farmer's boot strayed away from his ribs and chest, and smashed against his cheek. He felt his vision blur and his skin break. He was bleeding. On his chest and on his face and down his arms was blood mixed in with the dirt.

Rose had bled. Their cute little daughter had fallen off Daisy while he was in the house fetching her an ice cream. When he got back, she was crying with a moderate gash on her knee. He hadn't meant for her to get hurt. He really hadn't.

"You're bloody stupid, Sebastian. A bloody stupid kid." Sebastian heard his words. Years later when the kids in his class would avoid his eyes for projects and joke about him being a brainless jock, he would hear them on repeat. But at that moment, all Sebastian felt was the urge to hurt the farmer. He felt anger and fear and sadness and… and a warm fury rise within him.

And it was a silly thing. Just a silly thing, but as the explosion of warmth filled him and the farmer tripped over in the mud and cut his knee on a stone, Sebastian knew that he had done it.

Just like he knew the wind blew and wounds bled, he knew that he had tripped the farmer.

The farmer's knee bled down his leg, and the man turned without a word back to his wife and daughter to have it patched up.

No one was hit.

No one was yelled at.

Because it was an accident. Because it was no one's fault, and the man couldn't hate himself for falling. Sebastian wished he could have told the man that. That what had happened to his daughter had been an accident and nothing more. Like him tripping over.

But he was tired, and scared of what the farmer had done to him, and what he had done to the farmer.

He supposed the man was right; he was just wrong in the head.

* * *

Seb looked at Jamie, whose dark eyes were wide with a blatant concern. Seb sent over a smile, but he knew it just looked uneasy and miserable.

He liked Lydie. She was cute and fierce and a reminder that Jamie, even with the loss of his mother and the negligence of his father, had a big family. By blood or not, Sin, Mae and Lydie were his sisters, and Nick, Alan and Toby were his brothers. A good family. A kind family who wouldn't hurt him.

"I don't see why I shouldn't tell her." He knew what Jamie was thinking. He was thinking about him lying pitifully in front of the farmer, tossed on his side and wanting to die. He wished he hadn't told Jamie that, but he promised he wouldn't lie, and Jamie had asked him what the first thing he had used his magic for was. That was a different question.

"Seb, you don't have to-"

Seb looked down and pressed his thumb on Lydie's soft, pale cheek, trying to ignore Jamie as he took a deep breath.

"The first time I knew I was anything close to magic… that I was anything at all, was when I met Jamie. It was my first day of high school in Exeter and we were in gym class. I saw him, and I felt a million things. Like… like all the air had disappeared and left something different in its place – something I could… something I could breathe without choking or sneezing. Like I had emerged into a world where I could live… like I hadn't been alive before. Not really. It was like we were some sort of different species, and just seeing him… I could tell he was like me. No one ever told me what I was, but I knew that it was something real when I saw him." Seb didn't dare look at Jamie. He didn't want to see if he was scoffing or looking away or being sad. Instead he kept talking, which was probably stupid. "I thought it was all in my head till then. That when I made things happen, it was my head playing tricks on me. I only realised that day that it was real. That it was okay."

Lydie smiled a little. "You must have thought you were crazy."

Seb laughed. He tried to forget the hours he used to spend in his room wanting his head to be right. Trying to make it to go away. "Yeah. I thought I was mad. Bonkers."

Seb felt a hand on his knee and saw Jamie looking at him, shaking his head. Seb mustered a shrug. It was a long time ago. It didn't matter.

"You should have been nicer to Jamie, if you loved him all that time."

Seb couldn't help but smile. "Magicians are ridiculous, aren't they? So drawn to magic. Is that why you like Nick?"

Seb thought about it, the way Nick's mother had left Alan's father for Arthur because they were kin; drawn together by power. Seb worried about that, sometimes. That a part of him was drawn to Jamie for his power, and that Jamie wouldn't be drawn to him because he was weak. He had loved Gerald and not him. Gerald had been strong. He had been strong, and Jamie had loved him for it.

Lydie shook her head. "I like Nick 'cause he's hot."

Seb smiled and picked Lydie up again, throwing her a little in the air. She squealed softly. "Good, because he's a jerk and I would be worried if you loved him for any other reason."

Lydie giggled again, and Seb settled her back into his arms. "You tired yet?"

She nodded a little, before adding, "Not that you're boring or anything."

Sebastian nodded. "Then we'll get you to bed. And remember, your family will be back before tomorrow. You'll see them soon, I promise."

She shook her head. "Why do you say so?"

"Because. You have the best family in the world, and I'm sure they wish they could have said goodnight to you. You're their little sister, and I'm sure they miss you. Looks like you'll have to settle for getting your good night from Jamie, though."

Lydie bit down on her thumb, rubbing her feet against one and other, before squirming to see Jamie. "Because you're my big brother?"

Seb looked at Jamie, who looked back at him before nodding. "Yeah, Lydie. I'm your brother now. I guess. I mean, even without Nick and Alan, Sin and Mae are a little bit like sisters-"

"No." Lydie shook her head. "You're my brother because we share blood."

Jamie frowned. "Lydie, I think you got the wrong idea."

"We're magicians. And Seb is too. He's my brother. We're always family."

And Seb couldn't help the way his face broke into a grin. It wasn't his fault. It wasn't.

Without another word, Seb scooped up Lydie and smiled down at her. "Magician or not, I say you're a wicked witch."

Lydie squealed with laughter as Seb spun them around in circles. Just as they reached the stairs to go up, though, Lydie squirmed until Seb knelt down and let her run back into the lounge room where the television continued to play, ignored by the magicians.

Lydie eyed it for a moment before looking Jamie full in the eye. "Those boys can't have you."

Seb watched as Jamie glanced up at Lydie, who was scarily serious. "Umm… okay. That's good. They sort of just got together after two seasons, so-"

"No." She shook her head. "No, they can't have you because you have Seb, and you need to remind him that he's magic. He might forget if you leave; like before. He shouldn't forget."

Jamie looked stunned for a moment, and Seb felt his face go red. "No… no Lydie. I won't let him forget."

Lydie nodded with finality. "Good." She quickly ran over to Seb and leaped back into his capable arms. "Am I still a wicked witch?"

"The worst," he said, but he smiled. He held her thin body in his arms and kissed her forehead. "The prettiest, smartest, loveliest, most perfect little witch I've ever met."

Moments later he was back down the stairs and sitting silently beside Jamie, wishing his boyfriend would say something.

Jamie cleared his throat. "You never told me about that. That you only realised you weren't loopy that year. I thought you figured it out before then."

Seb smiled. "Dumb, remember?"

Jamie's face fell. "Don't. Please don't say that."

"I'm sorry."

Jamie leaned up and placed a polite kiss on Seb's cheek. "You were very good with her. Now you're going to have to play with her, you know. All the time. You seemed to know exactly what to say. I swear you earned yourself a fan when you called her perfect."

"Yeah, well." Seb swallowed. "Everyone knows what they wish they were told when they were little. They just need to remember to say it."

Jamie came closer, cuddling into him. Seb hesitantly wrapped an arm around him.

"I guess you'll never be allowed to leave, now. You're stuck with us no matter what if Lydie thinks she has a new brother. Looks like you're part of the family. Nick will be mortified."

"Good." Seb remembered Rose, riding her pony in the farmer's yard, laughing. She was the first person he had ever been told he could look after. She was the first person he had failed. "I always… I always wanted a little sister."

He wondered if Jamie knew what he was thinking. Maybe he could tell he was thinking of the scars on his temple and ribs from being kicked on the muddy ground, or being told that he was filth, and that no one would ever want him. Maybe that was it. Or maybe Jamie was just amazing.

"You're perfect enough, Sebastian. You're my prince."

And Seb wouldn't cry, because that would have been pathetic. But he buried himself in Jamie's chest, and didn't come up for a long time.

Jamie stroked his hair, because he was a prince too.

* * *

**Cheesy?**

**Yes.**

**But I love it. I love Jamie and Seb and Jamie with Seb.**

**Reviews? For the love of the tiny Seb/Jamie fandom?**


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